Dogs are very active creatures and they need a high protein diet to maintain that level of activity. However, care should also be taken that you don't overfeed your pet dog with proteins, as that can cause problems too. A wholesome balanced diet should be designed for your dog.

The ideal amount of high protein food, that you can feed your dog can be determined by his level of activity. The protein requirement of their body varies with age, their development stage and gender.

Protein Requirement
Let us see the amount of proteins required by dogs in various growth stages. This will give you an idea about the amount of high protein food, you can safely feed your dog. The fraction percentage of protein requirement mentioned here, can vary with different breeds, but consider these as the average values. High protein diet is especially necessary for pregnant and lactating dogs. Dogs with kidney problems must be fed with an easily digestible protein diet, which will not tax their kidney a lot. Totally withholding proteins in the diet, if the dog has kidney problems is not advisable. You can feed him low protein food.

Dog Breeds/Developmental Stage Percentage of Protein Requirement
Puppy 28%
Grown Up Dogs 18%
Racing Dogs 35%
Performance Dogs 25%

By having a look at the chart above, you must have got an idea about requirement of proteins in dog food, according to age and level of activity. It will also help you to choose the right food, according to the amount of protein it contains.

Which are the Best High Protein Dog Foods?
Many people judge quality of dog foods with the amount of proteins they contain. A high protein food product may not necessarily be the best for your dog, if it's not balanced with other nutrients which satisfy his energy requirements, on a whole. Just the amount of protein a food product contains doesn't qualify it is good for dog consumption. It's effectiveness should be decided by how much of digestible protein is supplied through the food. Lamb meat and chicken have proteins which are highly digestible, whereas, bone meal and meat meal are difficult to be digested. Cereal, that is, corn based foods should be given second preference when you are looking for high protein foods, as they come with more carbohydrates than proteins. Overall, meat is the best food, that you can feed, as it can supply the 12 essential amino acids, that their bodies need from diet. Most of the dogs thrive on meat.

If your dog has an allergy for food with high protein like chicken and meat, then you need to be careful in such cases and try products from other sources, which he is not allergic to. In such cases, homemade food is the best choice.

Here is a small listing of foods which can be safely fed to your dog, to meet protein requirements.
  • Beef
  • Lamb
  • Chicken
  • Eggs
  • Fish
  • Soybean
  • Milk
  • Soybean Meal
Dogs require large amounts of protein for their overall development. See to it, that you supply them with an adequate protein diet.